Chat and Mouse
by aicherrycherie
Summary: Adrien has discovered Marinette's identity as well as her crush on him and decides to tease her mercilessly as both Chat and Adrien.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hello hello! So here I am...A 20-year-old, junior in college...writing for Miraculous Ladybug. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

For all those who are waiting for more stories for Rurouni Kenshin, do not fret! I am still in the midst of working on a fairly long one. And I mean long.

I hope everyone enjoys this story! There will be five parts in total, so four more after this one. I have a serious kink for constructive criticism, so please let me know what you think!

* * *

 _Adrien has discovered Marinette's identity as well as her crush on him and decides to tease her mercilessly as both Chat and Adrien._

* * *

"Chat?" Marinette breathlessly mumbled with wide eyes.

Her next attempt at words became lodged in her throat as she could feel the flutter of Chat's golden lashes against her jaw as he nuzzled against her throat. Her fingers, desperate to clench at something other than to press into the soft flesh of her hands, gripped the railing of her balcony. She inwardly chided herself for jerking in his general direction in an attempt to grip a leather clad shoulder.

"Yes Puurincess? How may I be of service to you?" Chat nonchalantly murmured against her neck. He enjoyed the warm scent of flour, vanilla, and almonds she exuded. It was delectable. Enticing really, since he couldn't find it in himself to part from her. However, much to his dismay, once he leaned in closer and ended up pressing his chest to hers, he was firmly reminded why Ladybug was such a furious and powerful heroine when Marinette shoved him away.

Still stumbling back, she watched as Chat caught his bearings before screeching at him.

"I- Wha- Were you just purring?!"

Out of all the questions to ask, it just had to be that one Marinette. Stupid, stupid, stu-

Never would Adrien forget the sweet tint of pink that graced her cheeks when she recalled the deep rumbling vibrations against her chest.

"Hmm," Chat deliberated with a finger on chin and glancing up at the starry sky innocently. "I suppose I was Princess. Was that a bit im _purr_ missible?" Peering back at her he couldn't help the Cheshire grin that overtook his face. Her angry stammering was downright adorable.

Something in Marinette snapped at that moment, and tired of being tongue-tied in front of Adrien on a daily basis, she refused to do so with Chat.

"A bit? A _bit_?! And I'm not just talking about the purring, you mangy cat. Why I ought to throw you off my balcony and watch you turn into road kill and - "Marinette's huffy ramblings and wildly flapping arms were cut off by the gleam in his emerald eyes and the way he leisurely stalked towards her.

Once again at a loss for words and proper motor skills, Marinette scrambled back until she fell back on to her pink chaise. Not deterred at all by her clumsiness, Chat immediately crawled over her prone form and leaned close to her face. Noses touching, breath mingling.

"You Noir me. I mean, me Chat on chaise top. No! I mean- "

"Your freckles, my princess, they are truly breathtaking under the moonlight."

A beat passed, and then two. Somewhere in between his admiration for her and her bafflement at his behavior, they had begun to drown in one another's gazes. Not knowing just how long they had been staring at one another, one in awe of the other and one in delighted embarrassment, they came back to themselves once a familiar beep blared from Chat's ring.

Chat sighed before righting himself and offering his princess a hand to stand up right. However, the ever-naïve Marinette did not take into account just how sneaky and cheeky Chat Noir could really be. So not even moments since the last teasing had rendered her silent, she was tugged up against his chest once more. Bewildered for the nth time tonight, Marinette was forced to look up at Chat with both hands pressed against him, very _very_ conscious of the nearness of their faces.

"It would seem that our time must be cut short princess. I look forward to our next adventure together very soon." He spoke lowly with mirth in his voice. As if he had his own inside joke that she may or may not get.

Feeling that his proximity was messing with her state of mind, he quickly ducked and pressed a kiss to her knuckles and leapt onto her balcony railing. Giving a two-finger salute, Chat fell backward and disappeared only to appear further away catapulting deeper into Paris on his baton.

Lips parted, Marinette replayed Chat's luminous eyes capturing hers while his lips pressed softly to her hand.

Cue internal pandemonium.

What had he been doing there?! Sure, he wanted to check up on "his princess"…but…

And how did he remember where she lived?

And that stupid flirt, why did he brazenly… _do that_?! His hands had been so warm and gentle on her hips. It made her wonder how they would feel without the barrier of his suit. How his breath had tickled her throat and how his hair had brushed her spaghetti strap clad shoulders.

And how did they fall into such a comfortable rhythm with each other? Just when she thought she had enough trouble not falling for Chat as Ladybug, it would seem that she needed to put even more of a guard up as Marinette.

It was only a giggling Tikki that brought her back to reality when she realized something odd. Well, more odd than a stray superhero cuddling her on her balcony.

"Since when did Chat use Cataclysm? His ring beeped…" Marinette trailed off before her mind was once again overwhelmed with questions and pure chaos. Climbing back in her room through her skylight, she chose to just try to get some much-needed rest.

Marinette did not sleep well.

A certain black cat dove into an open window and rolled to a halt onto plush carpet. Standing and brushing off a bit of lint, Chat Noir's transformation wore off and out popped his ever-hungry kwami to fly towards the pile of cheese that Adrien bribed him with.

"Thanks for the warning Plagg. Who knew that an hour would pass by that quickly." Adrien sighed and fell back onto his bed, shoes and all, with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

Plagg flew over his wielder's head, and with a mouth full of cheese grumbled a few unintelligible words.

"What?" Adrien asked disgustedly.

Swallowing, Plagg tried again. "Kid, you know your precious 'Princess' is gonna skin you alive after she finds out it's been you all along, _intentionally_ messing with her."

At the mention of 'his Princess' Adrien's happiness returned full-fledged and he shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not. After all, her gigantic crush on me might be what saves me," he grinned stupidly.

Plagg merely shook his head at his unwise mortal and mumbled: "woman," "scorned," and "hell hath no fury" under his breath as he escaped for the night in his cheese pile.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So...I kinda got busy...but I didn't forget! Thank you so much for your incredible feedback and amazing patience~ I won't let finals get in between me and my love for Miraculous. 3

Also, I went ahead and corrected what my lovely guest reviewer noted in Chapter 1. "Mari" will still be used, but only from the precious lips of Adrien/Chat Noir. Thanks!

* * *

Marinette was officially on cloud 9. Here she was. In Adrien Agreste's room. With Adrien Agreste. Working with Adrien Agreste. On a project that her teacher had partnered herself and Adrien Agreste with. She knew that if she didn't snap out of giddy daze soon, Alya would yell at her for disregarding the pep talk she had given the blue-eyed girl earlier. _Remember girl, don't go into that creepy daze that you always do whenever you look into his eyes. If you can't be normal, just like it. And-_ However, it was much better than having the frustratingly smug blond hero invade all thoughts for the past two days.

Every single waking moment had been filled with his irritating glowing eyes and that stupid shit eating grin that always seemed to permeate his face. And the way his lips had tickled the juncture of her throat. If Marinette didn't know any better, she would have thought that her kitty was merely going through heat and decided to torture her along with him. That was the only other explanation as to why he had waltzed onto her balcony that night just to relentlessly tease her. Though she supposed it might have been her fault for taunting him as Marinette after that one particularly interesting Akuma attack two weeks ago...

"-and so I was thinking that might work out well for our project. What do you think Mari?"

Utterly horrified to realize that Adrien had not only been talking to her for some time but also discussing details for how their project was supposed to go, she could only helplessly blink rapidly at him with large doe eyes. She swore that damn alley cat was going to be on the receiving end of her yo-yo the next time she saw him.

A smug sense of accomplishment filled Adrien as he kept his face innocently blank and smiled easily at Marinette. Knowing she had been in her own world once again since their encounter on her balcony, he, in Adrien-like fashion, rubbed the back of his neck.

"Heh, sorry about that. I get nervous when talking about a presentation, so I start talking really fast. That's why you didn't understand me, right Mari?" he laughed nervously, lying through his teeth.

Marinette readily grabbed the opportunity for an easy out and nodded like a bobble head. Maybe a bit too hard as she could feel the beginnings of a headache forming. She supposed staving off a blush from Adrien's constant use of "Mari" instead of her full name by shaking her head rapidly wasn't too bright on her part these past couple of days. Who knew he could make her name feel so intimate? Who knew he even knew her name?!

Okay, maybe that was a bit extreme Marinette.

A sinister thought came to Adrien's mind and as he re-explained his thought process for how they should go about their project, he oh-so-slowly inched closer to Marinette on his couch. He was half in seduction mode and half in actual awe of how the sun shined and highlighted each of Marinette's soft freckles. How cute it was that they scattered along the bridge of her nose and faded away along the tops of her cheeks. How they adoringly remained hidden until just the right gleam of light touched her face or a certain immediacy revealed them. It just was not fair that that mask hid them from sight. Though if one stared her down under the right light, there was one or two that lightly peaked out to greet the world. How-

"Adrien?" Marinette was able to successfully squeak in surprise. Since when did he get so close? And what on earth was he staring at? Was he always this warm?

Deciding to kick up his teasing a notch, he cupped her cheek and oh-so-slowly, softly stroked his thumb over a few of her freckles. Lips parted and shaken up a bit, Marinette leaned into his touch just enough that he could feel her blood wildly pumping into her face. Grinning just enough to show pearly whites, Adrien dared to get even closer and leaned in close to of brushing the tips of their noses together. All under the guise of inspected the light speckles on her cheeks of course.

"Your freckles are adorable Mari," Adrien said matter-of-factly. Ripping his hands away and leaving her bereft of his warmth, Adrien coolly tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and smiled softly then gave her space. "Sorry about that. Let's get to work shall we?"

Parting from his highly frazzled and muddled half French classmate, Adrien coolly hopped off his side of the couch and went over to his desk to carry their project materials over to the coffee table near the windows. Though with his back turned to her, he could successfully berate himself for almost creating an ode to her freckles. Who was he, William Chatspeare?

Mentally patting himself on the back, he promised he would find a way to use that one later.

The rest of the evening went without a hitch, though he had a few stolen moments of pressing up against Marinette or touching the tips of her pigtails; all under the pretense of showing her something of course.

There was also a surprising lack of nervousness on Marinette's part. Not without the few initial frantic stutters and excited shifting on her part, however. She couldn't pinpoint the calming familiarity she had suddenly developed around Adrien. Though they were classmates of almost three years, in which they still ended up taking most of the same classes together in high school, she had never felt so much at ease with him. The sudden displays of confidence in which smirks and laughter and wordplay and subtle teasing and gentle coaxing trickled into their conversation and-

In confusion, she glanced over at a yawning Adrien and watched as he resumed packing up their project. Her observations didn't go unnoticed though as Adrien was quick to shoot her a cocky smile forcing her to turn away blushing madly.

"You know, you should take a picture. It lasts longer…and I'm kinda good at those."

Shaking off her embarrassment, she guffawed at his claim and turned to toss a throw pillow at his photogenic face.

Grinning madly, Adrien caught the pillow and internally rejoiced. There was His Lady. He could confirm that his Chat persona indeed opened her up and endeared her to him. Just the fact that sweet, innocent, perfect Adrien only made her flustered but cocky, punny, relaxed Adrien was able to ease her into comfortable conversation made him delighted. And he's been shamelessly using both to his advantage to woo his princess.

Finally, she was coming out of her shell.

…Hmm, also one for the pun books.

Arriving at the Dupain-Chang Bakery within the hour, Adrien nervously shoved his hand in his pockets while Marinette fiddled with her purse.

The sun had set a while ago leaving the glimmering slice of the moon to help illuminate the Parisian skies. However, that had not been enough for Adrien to allow Marinette to walk home alone. So there they were, just outside the doors of her home – both of them unable to find just the right words of parting.

"So-" and "No, you go…" had both been uttered simultaneously, resulting in both parties bursting out laughing as the awkwardness levels reached its peak.

"Thank you for having me over Adrien. It was nice to get the chance to hang out a bit." Marinette shyly peered up at him through her lashes and he was not prepared for the onslaught of emotions, desires, and cravings that suddenly punched him in the gut. He supposed a healthy 17-year-old was bound to experience this at some point or another but, he wished someone had prepared him for how intense this would be.

Stumbling over his tenses, pronouns, and verbs in classic Marinette fashion, he received a call from Nathalie mid-verbal fumbling and quietly excused himself. Much to his and Plagg's relief.

While turned away, Marinette's parents took that moment to blatantly reveal their snooping by shoving a box of baked goodies in her hand, with her mom cooing about how beautiful their grandchildren would be.

Which is why Adrien's face appeared utterly perplexed when turned back after ending the call to find Marinette's face resembling her alter ego's namesake and fumbling not to drop a large white box.

Watching as Adrien casually strolled up to her, Marionette suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights as her mind attempted to link the connection of feeling like prey, not for the first time this week. He wasn't quite stalking towards her, but…

"Ah, sorry. Nathalie was calling to let me know that my father will be expecting me for dinner in less than an hour."

Adrien peered at the box in question and Marinette could see the eager curiosity in his eyes. He was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet!

 _How cute~_

Once again, a twinge on a subconscious level reminded her of something, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it. However, she was brought out of her wanderings by the subtle drooling of the teenage model in front of her. He had gotten a whiff of the delicacies beyond the box and couldn't find a lick of restraint.

"Oh. I um. I forgot that my parents wanted you to have this for helping me do my school project, so I went inside to grab it quickly!"

Never had she been so fortune for her lying habit as of recently. Just keep it simple Marinette.

Adrien's grin rivaled light itself, and suddenly Alya's 'Sunshine boy' nickname came to mind. She would do absolutely anything to give him that sort of joy.

In the midst of her mind melting infatuation, Adrien being equally naturally oblivious and unconsciously flirtatious decided to invade her personal space. A lot. Taking the box in one hand, he wrapped his other around her waist to drag her into an awkward side hug while he rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. In hindsight, he could easily blame Plagg for his catlike tendencies. In the moment though…

Adrien froze when he came to realize that his gesture of thanks had extended beyond typical Adrien Agreste-ness and fumbled out of her dazed embrace, almost dropping the baked goods.

With a flush that was quickly traveling towards her chest, she looked anywhere but his eyes and twitched nervously trying to find something decent to say. "Ah – you- night maybe, Ehhehehe…" _Yeah, 'cuz those were words Marinette._ She had reached an all new low. And just when she thought they were finally making progress in their friendship!

Sparing her further embarrassment, Adrien smiled fondly and began to walk backward towards the now conveniently parked limo for him. Giving a two fingered salute, "Welp…our time's over, Princess. I'll see you tomorrow." Adrien spun on his heel before he attempted to do something stupid again, but paused and tossed over his shoulder, "I look forward to when we can have another adventure together very soon."

Marinette blinked stupidly as the blonde drove off with his bodyguard, eerily experiencing a Deja vu moment. She could have sworn she heard Princess… Maybe Tikki was right, she could afford to get more sleep.

The Gorilla looked back at his charge and a slight grin momentarily overcame his features. Any sign of emotion was quickly wiped off his face when his charge looked up at him in the rearview mirror, blushed, then looked out the window for the rest of the ride back to the mansion.

"So, she's the reason you asked Nathalie to help you change project partners. Good luck kid."

Adrien looked momentarily panicked but then relaxed against the leather seats after a few seconds of reflection. That wasn't a questioning tone or an accusatory one. Just a matter-of-fact statement. It was even a reassurance. The Gorilla wouldn't tell his Father. He didn't understand why, but that tiny bit of freedom endeared him a little bit more to his hired shadow. Though Adrien was now the personification of bad luck, things were surprisingly looking up for him and Marinette.

All he had to do was not mess this up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Adrien was exasperated.

And that was a hard feat. After all, he did tolerate his overprotective, stoic, domineering father for 17 years, his lady rejecting him constantly for the past four, and his lovely life-long friendship with Chloe… And he did not get frustrated with any of that. Adrien Agreste, poster child for being a patient good boy, and having literal model behavior just did not get frustrated with people.

But Marinette had a knack at doing that, unsurprisingly. Now, the love of his life was unknowingly plucking at his nerves with her obliviousness. Surely, she would realize by now that Chat was being unnecessarily clingy and touchy with a random civilian girl, much like he was around Ladybug. Or that Adrien was blatantly flirting with her. Even Alya seemed to have heightened senses to their interactions, and he wasn't even trying to woo _her_!

Sighing and pinching his nose in Agreste-like fashion, he swivelled in his chair trying to brainstorm how to proceed. He spun a few more times before coming to rest his chin on his desk, helplessly staring at his desktops, a different image of Marinette on each screen. He blew a blond strand out of his face to peer at the inconspicuously taken photos and drifted off into thought.

He vowed never to tell her that he had hired a ridiculously expensive photographer to get these photos. Looking over each vivid wisp of blue hair and each faint freckle sprinkled across her nose across her relaxed face, Adrien decided it was worth it. Maybe not so much if she were to find out…

Heavily sighing again, his gaze drifted over to Plagg sleeping haphazardly over his small cheese shaped cushion, mouth open. Adrien was jealous over his ability to have no worries and to get more than enough sleep. He should probably join him in slumber, seeing as how in six hours, he'd have to get up soon to face the object of his frustrations, but he couldn't come up with a plan to reveal himself without outright telling her. Angrily ruffling his hair in frustration, he spent another ten minutes but to no avail could he think coherently at this time had to get up in about two and a half hours to get ready for an early morning photo shoot.

Deciding that he was old enough now, his father's team had decided to test a new image for him, a very arrogant, egotistical, almost fuckboy-esque persona – the very anthesis of Adrien if you will. And that's when it hit him.

After a solid two hours of sleep, Adrien felt refreshed and ready to face the day like the sunshine child he was. Despite the lack of appropriate hours of sleep, he had indeed been invigorated, giddy even, by the thought that he had a solid plan to secretly reveal himself to his Lady!

Luckily they had a test in class the next day. He knew Marinette always came to class early so she could study last minute. He loved the girl, but her studying habits were deplorable when it came to chemistry or math. They would have many study dates in the near future to fix that.

So he came earlier than her, much to his kwami's ever distaste. And he waited.

He was pleased with her reaction to him. She came a few minutes after he arrived, clearly talking to her kwami quietly about something – something else they'd work on together – only to stop and freeze in the doorway when she spotted the love of her life idly watching her. Purposely making sure not to give her his typical megawatt smile, a small smirk graced his lips as he cocked his head slightly as if to beckon her to come in the room.

"Here? Doing Adrien what are early so? Ah! I mean! Um!"

She looked around frantically then pleaded at him with her eyes as if asking for him to understand her. And of course he did. He always understood her. But he wasn't going to save her that easily today. Not if he wanted to accomplish his goal.

"Adrien, gah! …you. We together – school?" After a few excruciating more minutes of stuttering, she gave up. She was done with this. With a heavy sigh, she stomped around to her desk and proceeded to throw her back on the bench and slapped her face on the desk with a loud groan.

A few seconds passed.

"So-"

At the first hint of sound coming from him, Marinette jumped to attention and looked at him with owlish eyes. Adrien had to seriously try and keep a straight face.

"I actually came for you Marinette." If he thought her eyes couldn't get any bigger, oh boy was he wrong. Her face even had its own little magical sequence and transformed into a lovely shade of neon red. Adrien proceeded as if he hadn't noticed anything amiss.

"I know sometimes you come early to study for chemistry tests, so I wanted to see if maybe I could help a bit?" Adrien asked with a slight raise of a brow and a low voice.

He watched in rapt attention as she pressed her lips together almost viciously and nodded slowly as if she didn't want to say a word that might mess things up. Deciding not to scare her off quite yet, he simply said "cool," and turned around and leaned up to place his books and notes on her desk.

The first few minutes went by pretty stiffly. But that was to be expected since Marinette was not used to interacting with Adrien without the buffers that are Nino and Alya. Very soon though, they were making substantial progress. And in the 45 minutes of the hour that they had before class officially started, Marinette was confident in her ability to pass, if not ace this test! But she hadn't looked him in the eye not once since coming in. He wanted to fix that.

Suddenly, Marinette found Adrien gathering his belongings and placing them on his desk. Then she found herself looking up at him looming over her. Finally, she noticed that she was held easily in her arms and he swiftly pulled her onto his lap and finally forced her to look at him again since first arriving to class.

"What's wrong Mari? Cat got your tongue?" Adrien confidently asked while tipping her chin to look up at him with an index finger.

 _Unfortunately_ , Marinette currently could not be reached at the moment. _Please leave a message after the tone._

Marinette couldn't breathe. She had been plopped into her love's lap. And she supposed that's why when she came to she was greeted by the near frantic sight of Adrien Agreste's beautiful panicked eyes. A few moments before, she had realized she was being shaken like a rag doll before and was developing a bit of a mild headache. Definitely worth it if it meant being touched by him though. To a certain extent. She didn't want permanent brain damage.

Adrien's short-lived freak out came to an end when Marinette came back to life and her eyes were no longer dilated to unrealistic sizes. After receiving a few near incoherent nods when asked if she was okay, he carefully stood with her wrapped in his arms. He then safely deposited the tomato faced teen in her seat just behind him. Deciding that her reaction to him was satisfactory, he ended their secluded time together by cupping her cheek to inspect her eyes. Although his kwami's increased muffled laughter told him that his nearness was not helping his case, he simply stroked her warmed cheek with his thumb before taking his seat and cracking this book open to study for the upcoming quiz.

Not even a few seconds after taking his seat, the door to the classroom creaked open as students began to trickle in. Feigning innocence, Adrien tucked his nose deeper into the textbook when Alya and Nino fussed over the zoned out Marinette behind him. Things were coming along quite well.

Somehow, on an early Wednesday night, he ended back in his Princess' presence once again. Only this time, just to hang out in her room. Quietly of course so as not to alert her parents. And this time, he channelled as much of Adrien as he could. Which then led to him acting like an attention-seeking kitten as he butted his head against her side to try and get her to pet his hair. He could only remember the one time that she had run her finger through hair, making it wilder. And he could remember purring uncontrollably and not giving a damn. And now he would shamelessly do what he must to get that to happen again.

"Marineeeeeeeeeettttte~ Please~~~"

She weakly swiped at his face, missing when he ducked under her arm.

"No Chat, I have to get through this French homework," she whined at the pouting superhero.

Though she came across as unaffected and disinterested in the whines and attempted cuddles of her cat-themed friend, she couldn't help but adore this side of him. Normally, he was suave or shoving pickup lines down her throat as Ladybug. Or pretending to be a boyishly charming or roguish knight to Marinette. But now, he was acting liking a cute teenage boy trying to get attention from his girlfriend and even calling her by her name and not a pet name…

Wait, not that she liked being treated like a girlfriend…

Or rather not that she didn't not like being not treated like this… _what_?

Marinette swivelled in her chair, away from her favorite super-pest and screwed her eyes shut as her mind became a jumbled mess of denials.

"But Mari, why not?" Chat practically whimpered while pushing himself into her direction, and therefore her direct vision, giving her his best kitten eyes and even began to swish his tail behind him for effect.

Purrhaps it worked a bit too well, a lot more than Chat himself thought because he was wholly unprepared for when Marinette launched herself at him and tugged his head to her chest. Unable to feel anything other than softness for a while he later realized that his Princess was running her fingers through his hair with one hand while the other cradled him to her. Then it came to him that the deep satisfied rumbling was indeed coming from him and the soft giggles and sighs were coming from her. Finding a bit of Adrien like tact within himself, he decided to metaphorically put a foot in his mouth before he said something stupid for her to stop her ministrations. Instead, he warily lifted his clawed hands and wrapped them around her waist to bring himself closer to her, if that were possible of course. Feeling his warmth encircle her, Marinette didn't even hesitate in her ministrations.

This felt nice. Very nice. She was comfortable. He was comfortable.

Though about an hour later and neither of them were as comfortable as they initially were. Most due to the fact that they were on a very firm rug. And neither had moved positions. And their arms were getting numb…

Groaning because she knew she was going to have to initiate it, Marinette wiggled a bit out of his grasp. And though he released a low hiss of relief to be able to stretch, it was also partially one of irritation due to having to leave her arms.

Neither could quite look at one another and say anything just yet. In fact, they both seemed to gaze at one another until a goofy self-satisfied smile made its way onto Chat's face. One that had her returning one of equal silliness until they both burst out laughing. Quietly of course so her parents wouldn't hear.

Noticing that some of her hair had escaped their bands from when he had occasionally raked his hand through her hair not too long ago, Chat tucked a strand of hair behind her ear once their laughter subsided, but rubbed the back of his neck looking sheepish once she locked eyes with him. Marinette smiled sweetly at him. Though not 100% sweetly, because he could recognize his Lady's inclination for devious behavior in a heartbeat. She had something up her sleeve. And quite honestly, he was sure he wasn't ready for it.

And he was right. Chat Noir quickly found out just who held the power in the relationship when, after helping her finish her French homework, they made their way up to her balcony. Not quite knowing how to part ways with her, he rocked on his heels with his head ducked, trying to think of parting words that would convey his emotions to his Princess. When he finally lifted his head though, he wasn't prepared for Marinette's nearness. He wasn't prepared for the high-pitched squeak of "Mari?!" that left his throat. And he certainly was not prepared to lose his breath for when she wrapped her arms around his waist and gently bestowed a sweet kiss on his cheek before fleeing back to her room. All while giggling and blushing madly. And also quietly _so her parents wouldn't hear_ of course.

Well, maybe he wasn't any closer to getting his soon to be girlfriend to figure him out. But he sure was on the right track to making her fall in love with all of him.

The normally graceful cat the glided through the sky had a couple of bruises littering his body on his way back home as he crashed into various buildings. Adrien would have to remember to anonymously send money to get that old couple's chimney fixed…

As for Marinette now, she thought she was safe until she woke up the next morning to receive her breakfast, all in cat shapes. Seriously, who makes cat shaped croissants _papa_. And after hearing every teasing cat joke under the sun and conspiratory snickers between her parents, the poor superheroine left with a very flushed face that had nothing to do with the brisk breeze. To her defence, she thought they had been quiet so her parents wouldn't hear.

Now that he has finally gotten his princess' attention, it was time to step it up as Adrien. Somehow, he concocted to have Marinette make a design to put the finishing touches on their project together. He also somehow managed to convince her to allow him to take her out on an all-expenses-paid trip to their local rare fabrics boutique, which so happened to be on the top floor of his father's company building. Which meant he could access the video footage of what was about to happen and destroy any evidence about his less than model Agreste behavior…

He had felt her nervous energy all day and how she had been ready to snap with tension. He supposed it was fair since her childhood hero in the fashion industry could be there. So Adrien made small talk along the way and made sure to comfort her as much as possible. Which wasn't much considering he made her just as nervous, if not more. Knowing the forces of his inner Chat that he would ultimately unleash, he eased her worries by cracking cheesy jokes all day and treating her with adoration, as befitting for a princess. He had the feeling that it was working to an extent by the time they finished their shopping because she had rolled her eyes at him a few times and even shot him a grimace that quickly turned into a smothered grin when she thought he wasn't looking.

So when they stepped into the elevator and he immediately swiped at all the buttons upon their descent from the 41st floor, he knew he had to work quickly in order to have a functioning Marinette to work with. Knowing he could safely act for a while up until just before they arrived on the first floor, Adrien began operation: fluster Marinette.

Marinette pivoted to face Adrien with an exasperated expression. Confused, she raised an eyebrow at him ask if to ask him to explain his action. She was tired of being so tense all day and just wanted to go home to scream into her pillow.

With a swift change in disposition and a cocky grin, Adrien shrugged a shoulder and leaned against a wall. After eyeing her up and down slowly he said-

"So, tell me about yourself beautiful."

Flushing gorgeously down her neck and probably down her chest, Marinette squeaked, "What the heck Adrien? Wh-wha-what does that even mean?!"

Not quite knowing what to do with her hands, they first nervously tugged her shirt down before frantically going up to twirl a single pigtail before wildly searching behind her for something solid to back into.

"Are you trying pickup lines again? This isn't funny Agreste!" She angrily huffed, voice slightly trembling.

But Adrien couldn't help but giggle a little at just how cute his little bug was! He shoved his laugher away for later and cautiously approached her; like a cat to his prey. He saw the way her eyes trailed over his face and down to the way the top buttons on his polo was left wide open for her viewing pleasure.

"Like what you see?" Adrien grinned smugly "But I'm being serious Mari. Tell me more about you." He caressed her arm, his eyes catching hers.

"Things like how many kids do you want? Maybe where do you see yourself getting married? Or how about what's your favorite kind of kiss? I want to know all of you." His face drew closer, noses touching.

"Tell me everything," he whispered while his breath fanned her trembling lips.

He knew he was treading on a fine line, but drastic times called for drastic measures. His princess was too oblivious and a little naive, so he'd have to handle her a bit roughly for the time being. That, and he always loved seeing how much he affected her.

Before she could self-destruct, however, he closed in on her for the punch-line. He gave her smoldering eyes and leaned back to look her up and down. Placing both hands on the wall on either side of her face in true kabedon fashion, he leaned in.

"I wanna know Marinette. I need to know because you're a designer. I know you're familiar with all kinds of materials."

He took one of her hands and placed it on his chest.

"I think this is boyfriend material. What do you think?"

Marinette's eye twitched.

It was safe to say that after that, he had successfully broken Marinette. So when the elevator chimed a final time to indicate that they had arrived on the first floor, he quickly backed away and placed his hands in his pockets casually. The doors crawled opened to the lobby where a few people milled around trying to get work done. Adrien looked over to see Marinette staring at him as though he had three heads. He gave her a secretive grin and took the bags from the ground by her feet and strutted out. But not before giving her a lascivious wink. Let's just say that the drive to her house was very tense.

Later that night, as he laid in bed patting himself on the back for a job well done, he got an unexpected call. Not quite recognizing the number, he barely had a chance to say hello before a sharp voice cut him off.

"Agreste. Literal cinnamon roll. Poster child for all things good in this world. I don't know what you have been doing to Marinette lately-"

Adrien sat up quickly and swallowed hard. He nearly forgot how chillingly terrifying Marinette's best friend could be. She was a ruthless and protective as a mother bear with her cubs. He respected the hell out of her though.

"But good job." Alya teased which left Adrien baffled, to say the least. But he kept his mouth shut.

"Keep it up. I think you're wearing her down. I'm curious about your sudden change in attitude towards my girl, but I've always seen you looking at her when you thought no one was looking for a while, so I won't interrogate you. If anyone's good enough for Mari, it's you. But listen and listen well, my friend."

Adrien held his breath and waited for his death sentence.

"Make her happy. She can be oblivious, and with that comes stubbornness. So be relentless. But also know this, she's a fighter. Don't be surprised if she changes the tables on you. But I think you'll enjoy that. If you hurt a single blue strand of hair on her head, just know that Marinette won't get to have her three kids."

"I wouldn't dream of it. I would take a bullet for her." He said with no hesitation. Besides, he almost had taken a bullet for her a few months ago with that one akuma. Nonetheless, Adrien could breathe a bit now. He and Alya had a common goal, make Marinette happy. He could do that.

"Ugh, of course you would. You both deserve each other. Oh! Before I forget, Marinette thinks she'd like French kisses and thigh kisses a lot. She's also kinda kinky, so beware! You should have fun with that though~"

The last thing he heard was hysterical laughter before the call ended. Goodness gracious, breathing wasn't necessary right?! He sure hoped not.

* * *

A/N: Long time no see, am I right? Life has been interesting recently, but I am excitedly working on this story again. I changed its original direction, so it has taken me a while to decide how to go about doing that. I have also had a recent case of horrible writer's block. But that's a story for another day. Let me know your thoughts.

Also, the elevator scene was inspired by fanart of Chat and Marinette in an elevator. He presses all the elevator buttons and says, "so tell me about yourself." Her expression is just priceless! .


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Not everyone will have read my other story that I posted recently, but essentially I have just gained back my life and a new laptop, so I have had the opportunity to work on this a bit.

Also, I'm sure most of you noticed that I have changed this story from having five total chapters to four. It felt more natural to shorten it a bit and get to the point than to drag it out unnecessarily. If I think of something else to add, I will happily do so. But for now, thank you so much for joining me on this adventure and I'll be sharing more stories with you in the future~

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Adrien mentally passed the baton on to Chat to woo his lady and hopefully reveal himself to her. He had done well enough by working on their Adrienette side, so now it was time for operation LadyChat to take off. What he was about to pull was maybe risking it all, but he figured the best way to become more Adrien as Chat Noir would be…to be Adrien.

So, he showed up before his lady sans his Chat Noir costume in favor of a pair of fitted dark jeans, and a black button up with black face paint around his eyes and an adhesive mask with slightly tamed blond locks. And he not only felt like Adrien, he acted like it too. Knowing his Princess and His Lady would love him in spite of his insecurities, he shushed his cackling kwami for the hundredth time and-

Ladybug zeroed in on him as he slowly came around from behind the rooftop pipe, gave him a sultry grin, cocked her hip, then slinked over to his nearly trembling form to tilt his chin in her direction. How someone was so easily able to dominate while looking up at him was beyond his comprehension. And where was this coming from?!

Marinette took her time sizing him up, letting the Ladybug costume invigorate her. After cooing at him, Marinette noticed faint traces of blush scattering across his cheeks. Seeing the love of her life react to her much in the same way that she had not even 24 hours prior gave her a sinister satisfaction. It also gave her confidence and proved that two could play at this game. He may have set the trap by asking her to meet up here and now, but she was the one that would thoroughly enjoy her prey this time.

Adrien attempted to gain the upper-hand as he practically jumped away from her and mentally slapped himself out of his trance. Gaining some semblance of his vocal chords, he wheezed out a "hello" and waited for her to return his formal greeting. Watching the love of his life giggle like that while the sun slowly set behind her, casting her in the loveliest of pink and orange hues was stunning.

He watched Marinette slowly licked her lips and was helpless to do anything but watch. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. But he was in too deep. This was stupid. Oh God, Plagg was…right. And the fact that she was still getting closer to him had him leaning back so far that he tumbled backwards, right onto the rooftop floor. Adrien heard her sigh with a fond smile and leaned over him with a teasing glint in her eyes. Adrien, thinking that she had been about to reach down to pull him up, stretched an open palm up to her. Poor Agreste.

Marinette had other plans involved for him. She instead took his hand, laced her fingers through his and plopped down on his lap to straddle him. Was he blushing before? Whoops, what should have been said was that **now** he was blushing…like a fire truck...on fire. And Marinette thrived from his reaction.

With a soft giggle, she pressed herself fully on top of him, completely aware of the havoc she was wreaking on the young model.

"What's the matter kitty Chat?" She murmured while leaning down to nuzzle the tip of her nose against his.

Chat Noir was literally wheezing. Maybe even having heart palpitations. Could someone his age have a heart attack? Well, according to all of his checkups the past couple of years, his doctors deemed him to have the health and strength of a vigorous ox. But those doctors did not know about the power of His Lady. And though she be little, she is fierce.

And though Adrien realized he should probably respond, he took his time to enjoy this moment. He savored the weight of Marinette in Ladybug form on top of him. He enjoyed how her pigtails brushed against his cheeks and ears before moving down to his shoulders as she shifted to press butterfly kisses to his neck. This really wasn't healthy for a teenage boy, but he just decided to make the most of it before he spontaneously combusted.

But at least he didn't have to think about his burial preparations because shortly, an Akuma whisked past them, seeming to enjoy lithely dancing across the rooftops of Paris, not a care in its mind about the two Superheroes engaged in near embrace.

And with a more than annoyed sigh, Ladybug raised a brow in his direction and cocked her head to the side, as if asking him how he'd like to proceed. He shook off his shock and stuttered his request to find a place to suit up. Ladybug rolled off of him, not before quickly pressing even closer to his form, then proceeded to bound off after the Akuma and leave him to find a suitable place to become Chat Noir.

And that was failure number one, due to obvious circumstances.

But 23 failures later, it seemed like every time he was alone with her, it proceeded like that! Every time he tried to gather even an ounce of confidence or control of the situation, his Lady in either form would ruthlessly dominate his very being and toy with him...and he liked it. Maybe Alya was right.

There was even the time she had

Before he could dwell anymore about his dilemma, a certain spotted bug-themed teenager swept through his open window. And seeing as he was in the middle of actually practicing the piano, his hand abruptly slammed down on a variety of wrong keys, creating a discord of chaotic chords to shatter the serene sound barrier.

Both parties cringed, and Adrien swung around to make sure no one would come in to check on his strange mistake, while also sweeping the room. After three tense minutes, Adrien relaxed his shoulders seeing a Plagg-less room and a governess-less one as well. Facing the object of his affections though proved to be a whole new challenge.

Especially when said 'new challenge' now lounged across his piano with an ironic Cheshire smile, one hand holding up her head, and the other laid languidly across her hip.

When silence spilled into the room for a few more minutes as Adrien waited for this new development to unfold. But when Ladybug made gestures to continue, he did exactly as his Lady bid. So, for the entirety of Moonlight Sonata, Adrien played effortlessly and willingly drowned in the sea of his love's gaze.

Marinette's original self-satisfied smile transformed into a soft endearing life of the lips was truly breathtaking. And it was in watching that look of adoration cross Adrien's face that made Marinette cease her teasing.

Fingertips ghosted across and caressed their final keys, the final notes humming through her body.

"So" Ladybug whispered.

"So" Adrien whispered right back.

"You know. I was kind of mad at first..." And Adrien watched with rapt attention.

He waited in blissful confusion for her to proceed. And when her brows furrowed, he understood that something was amiss.

"…about the mind games…" Ladybug continued slowly, as if waiting for some epiphany to strike him. But continued upon seeing the cute, if not annoying tilt of his blonde little head.

"And the secrets…" She drew a pout when it still was getting through to him just what she was hinting at and decided to drop a few bombs.

"And the school incident, and acting cute in my room that other night, not to mention the elevator stunt, among other things kitten." And Ladybug nodded in full satisfaction as his pretty green eyes expanded while staring at her in slight fear.

Subconsciously, he knew this was coming. In fact, he figured her wrath might continue into the frigid greetings of winter. And though he hadn't intentionally meant to, his simplistic teenage boy mind thought it might be intelligent to tease and prod a reaction out of her.

"But-"

"But?" He blurted out a bit too eagerly, fingers hesitantly reaching out to her, and quickly withdrawing once he realized what his limbs were up to. But Ladybug quickly snatched them up and tangled them with her own, pressing a playful kiss to his knuckles.

"But," she emphasized pointedly, "I think I understand now. Maybe. You wanted me to find out on my own that you found out, huh?"

Baffled at his Princess' genius, he shook his head up and down in bobblehead-like style.

"And you also wanted me..." She trailed off, not quite sure what she was going for and not intending for that the be the end of the statement as she looked around trying to find the right phrasing.

But Adrien, lowly affirmed her incomplete clause, causing two flushed faces and a snickering cat entity in the background.

A lone autumn leaf, the shade of a baked honey crisp apple whispered past and stuttered as it engaged with the soft, moist grass of the park near Marinette's home.

A squirrel passed by, hopping towards a tree with its tail fluttering trustingly behind it.

A Nino passed by, thoroughly enthralled in his new mixtape, eager to share it with his sort-of girlfriend and hopefully convince her to accept the damned title he offered to her of boyfriend, even though she wanted to wait for Marinette and Adrien who wanted to stupidly dance around one another despite the fact their feelings were blooming and quite obvious for each other, and no he wasn't going to help and ruin something that should happen organically Alya.

Then that Nino backed up and did a double take. And Nino thought, 'well I'll be damned, that did happen organically,' as he snapped a picture and sent it to his not-yet-girlfriend, though that finally might change today with the news he was sharing with her. It would only be later that he would wonder how his best friend even got into that tree to kiss Marinette that passionately.

Later that evening, upon vaulting over Paris and swinging back into his room, he calmly de-transformed, kicked off his shoes, bounced over to his bed, turned around and fell back onto his bed in starfish-like fashion. With his manic grin that would scare the cheese out of Plagg's dreams, he grabbed a pillow and proceeded to squeal into it and maniacally kick his feet in the air.

That night, Nathalie decided never to check on Adrien past a certain time again.


End file.
